


Hearts 'N Parts!

by BonkerBuster69



Category: The Aquabats! Super Show!
Genre: Coming Out, Feels, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, Genderfluid! Jimmy the Robot, Group Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Trans FTM MC Bat Commander
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:53:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23482720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BonkerBuster69/pseuds/BonkerBuster69
Summary: “Commander…have you, ever felt like your hardware and software don’t quite…match up?"Genderfluid! Jimmy the Robot. Trans! FTM MC Bat Commander. Slight McRobot.
Relationships: Slight MC Bat Commander/Jimmy the Robot
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	Hearts 'N Parts!

Jimmy had been acting weird lately.

And not like, regular “Jimmy” brand weird either! He causing the lights to flicker by standing too close to the microwave, or picking up radio signals when he tilted his head JUST the right way. You know, robot weird.

This was a whole new kinda weird.

Sure, he was still the crime fightin’, laser shootin’, saxophone tootin’, science lovin’ robot man they all knew and…liked a lot. But the problem was that’s ALL he was - it was like he was just going through the motions of his programing. Punch the baddie, shoot the monster, play the gig, stay locked in his lab for hours and hours, rinse, repeat!

And he had barely said a word to any of them in like, a week! He was practically a zombie - and while “zombie robot” sounds like a really awesome movie idea, it absolutely sucked butt having one for a bandmate. It was like doing normal Jimmy stuff drained all the energy outta him. And left nothing left for his friends. His family!

They first noticed it on movie night when Jimmy told them to just “start without him” and managed to miss all 120 minutes of elves and trees walkin’ around. Maybe Jimmy was just being a sore loser about not getting to pick the movie this week, but when he missed “family” game night? Something was up - Jimmy never missed an opportunity to be banker!

And that’s why the Commander was being shoved through the lab doors by the other Aquabats. Who, once the doors “wooshed” back shut, where pressed against the door anxiously listening in.

“…Jimmy?”

The Commander made his way through the lab slowly and carefully…at least compared to how he normally entered any room, like a hurricane on an all-sugar diet. “Jimmy? Ro-bro? Buddy?” He called out, until past all the bunsen beakers and earl meyer flasks, he found Jimmy. Back facing him, hunched over his work desk and typing frantically on his computer. Which was currently hooked up to his brain via USB cable.

“Jimmy?”

It wasn’t until the Commander tapped Jimmy on the shoulder that Jimmy noticed he was in the room at all, and he spun around to face him.

But not before closing window very quickly.

“Commander! I-I um…didn’t hear you come in. Is everything alright?”

The Commander stumbled backward at the sight of him.

Jimmy looked terrible.

The usual bright blue light behind his eyes seemed to flicker in and out, and the usual soft, gentle whirring that was the backing track of his every motion was now a dull roar, internal fans clicking loudly and labored. His body seemed to twitch, jerk and sputter like an old car.  
It took the Commander a moment to find his voice. Not a terribly LONG moment though - this is the MC Bat Commander we’re talking about here.

“I dunno dude, IS everything alright?”  
“…what do you mean?”  
“You’ve been actin’ real weird lately and, no offense, but you don’t look so good…”

The Commander grabbed a random flask and shoved it in Jimmy’s face. Jimmy recoiled, as if in physical pain, at the distorted reflection staring back at him. He grimaced and swiveled back to his computer.  
“I…I suppose I’ve been a bit preoccupied. I haven’t given myself enough time to run maintenance checks or re-charge.”

The Commander spun him back around by the back of his chair.

“Jimmy, when was the last time you charged?”  
“…Friday.”  
“Friday?! Jimmy, my dude, it’s Tuesday! How are you still online?”  
“Is it really Tuesday?”

Jimmy asked quietly, before shaking his head and gesturing to the jumper cables splayed out on the table. “

I’ve been jumpstarting myself with the Tram’s jumper cables when my battery gets too low. Buys me a couple extra hours. It’s quicker than recharging.”  
“And you’ve been doing that since Friday?! Jimmy, ya gotta take better care of yourself, bud! No wonder you’ve been actin’ weird - you’re gonna… I dunno, discombobulate your circuit breakers or something!”  
“…that was nonsense, Commander.”  
“I know, but didn’t it SOUND super smart?”  
“If it had made any sense at all, I suppose it would. I appreciate your concern for my well being but I assure you I’m fine.”

But he was not fine. Jimmy knew it, the Commander knew it too.

So the Commander did what he arguably did best. He kept pushin’.

“Well, when was the last time you ate something, Robot? You know your ma will kill me and bake me into one of her pies if she finds out you haven’t been eating well on my watch.”  
“I don’t need to eat, I just like to. But I have plenty of excess insulation, I don’t need anymore.”

“Is that what’s bothering you? You’re worried about getting fat? Cuz you’re not the only member of the ‘Chub Club’.”

The Commander grabbed his own paunch and shook it.

“But seriously, bro - don’t be gettin’ all body conscious on me and go on one of those scary barf diets! First of all, all bods are beach bods. And second of all, if you really wanna lose weight, I know RICKY would LOVE to be your own personal trainer. Heck I’ll join ya! Even if it means I gotta jog and eat kale!”

Jimmy almost smiled.  
“No, that’s not it but, thank you. I appreciate that you’d be willing to eat kale for me.”

“Ah-HAH! So if that’s not ‘it’, then there IS an ‘it’! C’mon fess up, Jimmy what’s eatin’ ya?”

“…I can’t discuss this right now, I have to get back to my work…”

“Oh, no you don’t!” The Commander commanded - feeling extra “commandery”, poking Jimmy in the hard, metal chest. “I came in here to figure out what the heck is wrong with you and I’m not leaving ’til we talk! Man to man! And I’m warnin’ ya - I’m gonna be SUPER ANNOYING until you talk to me about your big dumb feelings!”

He crawled over Jimmy like a drunk cat might, knocking over several beakers and novelty coffee cups onto the floor like a drunk cat DEFINITELY would. “What the heck are you even working on that’s SO IMPORTANT, huh? It better involve lasers!” He cocked his eyebrow at the lines of code flashing on the screen.

“Commander stop! D-Don’t look at that! It’s PRIVATE!” The Commander was too stubborn, determined, and weirdly hurt to notice the panic in Jimmy’s voice or the genuine fear in his eyes.

He just hated the idea that one of his oldest chums was keeping some big secret from him.

Which, if he was even the tiniest bit self aware, he would realize was hypocritical of him.

“Then tell me what’s buggin’ you!”“It’s nothin you’d be interested in- It’s none of your business! Just leave me alone…”  
“Make me!”  
“FINE!”

The two wrestled, more office supplies and useless nicknacks fell to the ground in the scuffle. Jimmy was stronger, but the Commander was quicker and more…unpredictable. It was a surprisingly even match. At some point the USB cable connecting Jimmy’s brain to his laptop wrapped around the Commander’s foot and was yanked out of his head. Jimmy recoiled and clutched his head, the sudden disconnect always gave him a wicked headache.

The Commander recoiled too. This always happened every single time any of the Aquabats wrestled through their feelings, or just for the fun of it. It always got out of hand, and someone always got hurt. Usually Bones. But did they ever learn? Nope!

“Jimmy! Time-out! Dude, I’m sorry I’m sorry are you okay bro-oh?”  
Jimmy wasn't listening to him, or even looking at him. He looked like he had seen a ghost…or maybe even a dino-ghost - that was pretty much the most terrifyingly awesome thing the Commander could imagine. He followed the Robot’s line of site to, disappointingly, not a specter of a prehistoric nature but to that dang computer screen again.

Which was flashing, in big red letters:

“404. ERROR. GENDER.EXE NOT FOUND.”

The hyperactive hamster on a wheel that was the Commander’s brain skidded to a halt.

“Jimmy…what…the WHAT is this all about?”

Jimmy walked past the Commander, and closed the laptop shut. He kept his back to the Commander, and didn’t say anything for what felt like years, but was realistically maybe 2 minutes tops. The Commander watched for any sign of movement or life or movement, and was very worried that Jimmy had shut down and was trying to wrack his brain for the Professor’s number just in case.

What the Commander couldn’t see, with Jimmy’s back turned to him, was that Jimmy was just trying to keep himself from completely falling apart.

Finally, Jimmy sighed, and the Commander did too - not realizing he had been holding his breath.

“Fine. If you really must know, and clearly you must since you won’t take no for an answer…” Jimmy began, voice so icy-cold it made the hairs on the back of the Commander’s arms stand up.

It sucked to see Jimmy so cold and emotionless. The Commander supposed that’s what most robots were like, but not Jimmy - Jimmy was always so warm and thoughtful. And he wore his emotions on his sleeve…usually.

The Commander felt a TINY bit guilty that he pushed so hard. But the stubborn part of him knew that he was the Commander - he had to push sometimes. Or Jimmy would be right back where he was 10 minutes ago - alone with whatever was buggin’ him so much.

But now the Commander was finally gonna find out what the heck that was.

Jimmy finally turned around to face him.

“My father,” Jimmy began with a grimace. The way he did whenever his ol’ man came up. “built me with a male body, gave me a male name, and raised me as his son. B-but these labels…”male” and “son” they don’t…compute.” Jimmy coughed, and looked down at his vans. “Commander…this is quite embarrassing to admit but…I lack…’equipment’.”

The Commander froze as Jimmy’s shorts and underwear pooled around his ankles. Revealing him to be as smooth and endowed as a Ken Doll.

The Commander felt a familiar sting he hadn’t felt in years, and a great deal of empathy for his robot pal.

“Jimmy, dog…not having a big dingus ain’t what makes you a man…” The Commander squeezed his thighs together…just incase Jimmy had x-ray vision and could see his own….”equipment”…

Jimmy, thankfully, pulled his shorts back up with shaky robot hands. And the Commander was able to look at him again.

“I suppose not, but I’ve read my user manual front to back a dozen times now, combed my hard drive for any misplaced files and I can’t…I can’t find a gender program running. Or even installed! It appears that I was designated “male” the day I was built purely by default. It’s the only explanation as to why I feel so…disconnected.”

The Commander felt a wave of realization crash into him so hard, it nearly knocked him off his feet.

“…so what are you saying, Jimmy? That you don’t feel like a Boy-Bot?”

Jimmy shook his head. Or maybe, it was her head.

“…does that make you a Girl-Bot?”

Jimmy shook her, or maybe it was their, head again.

“No…well, maybe?…I don’t know. I’m both I think? I’m sorry, this is all terribly confusing.”  
“Jimmy, why didn’t you just TALK to us, to ME, about all this?! We were worried sick about you!”  
“I’m sorry - I kept this to myself because I didn’t want to worry you. To burden any of you. It’s not your fault that I’m broken.”  
“You’re not broken Jimmy.”  
“Fine, malfunctioning then. I’ve been so focused on ‘unscrambling my robot brain’, as you would put it, that I’ve ignored my duties as a kind, loving protector of human kind and a fellow Aquabat. I’m sorry.”  
“You’re not malfunctioning- you DON’T have scrambled robot brains!”  
“I thought I could fix myself on my own, but clearly I need to call the Professor and ask for assistance…I’d REALLY prefer not to get my father involved, he would be quite disappointed in how broken I turned out-“  
“You’re NOT broken, Jimmy!”

The Commander grabbed Jimmy by the shoulders, a little more forcefully than he honestly meant to.

“…h-HOWow w-w-w-would you kn-know, Com-m-m-MAAN-der?” Jimmy’s vocal functions cracked and warbled, a design flaw when under extreme distress. One of MANY design flaws, as far as Jimmy was concerned. They shrugged the Commander off their shoulders and pinched the bridge of their nose. Composing themself. “I’m sorry, Commander it’s just…how could you know what it’s like to be wired wrong? To have your hardware and software never match up…to be programed one way your entire artificial life and not ONCE ever feeling-C-Commander?!”

Jimmy sputtered as the Commander lifted up his rashguard. Jimmy flushed, a small puff of steam escaping their ears and shook their head quickly. They had only ever seen glimpses of his naked fleshy parts before.

They had never noticed the large, crescent shaped scars below the Commanders umm… “dials.”

“My eyes are up here, Jimmy.” He coughed, pulling his rash guard back down.. “I mean, I know I’m HUNKALICIOUS and all…heh-heh…” The Commander attempted to laugh it off, like he always did when things with Jimmy got a little…weird.

Not BAD weird just…WEIRD.

“S-sorry I didn’t mean to…I just…do they hurt…?”  
Commander’s eyebrows raised under his mask, not…expecting that of all the questions Jimmy could ask.  
“Nah…I got WAY worse battle scars. Ya know, cuz I’m MACHO as HECK!”

The Commander sighed, when Jimmy didn’t laugh or even crack a smile. Hoo-boy. Time to get serious. He always sucked at that.

“It hurt more when I ya know…when I HAD um…” Commander struggled to put it in terms Jimmy would understand. “…airbags…” He punctuated this, new less than sexy, term for human breast by fondling invisible ones in front of his now flat chest. “…like, in HERE ya know?” Commander stopped making lewd gestures and Jimmy was able to look at him again as he placed his hands over his heart on his chest.

And even though Jimmy didn’t have a “heart”, they knew exactly what Commander was trying to say. They FELT it.

“I’m just saying, dude-is it still ok to call you dude?” Jimmy nodded and the Commander continued. “You’re not broken. I know because I’M not broken - I’ve been where you’re at. It happens to humans too. Sometimes. We don’t have “hardware” or “software” but sometimes… something gets jacked up and our inside bits ain’t jellin’ with our outside bits. It’s even got a name - transgender. Your not broken - your trans! Like me!”

“Trans…like you…” Jimmy repeated to themself. Processing all this new information.

“Yeah, I’m not gonna lie I kinda always thought you knew that about me, since you got x-ray eyes and all.”

Jimmy gasped, getting all red and steamed up again. Like a mortified little tea pot. “Commander! I-I would NEVER! T-That would be…RUDE!”

“Haha, okay, okay, Robot don’t blow a gasket I’m just messin’ with you!” The Commander laughed, playfully smacking Jimmy’s arm. Perhaps hoping they were past the point of being serious and talking about their feelings and ready to goof around again.

Jimmy wasn’t quite there yet. Not that they didn’t want to be. Jimmy had always…admired the Commander’s carefree spirit. Even when it could be mildly annoying to extremely dangerous. Jimmy often wished they could feel that way about well…anything. Especially now. Jimmy couldn’t understand how the Commander could also be …(what was the word? Transistor? No Wait-) transgender and NOT feel like the world was ending.

“Commander…does the feeling of being wired wrong ever go away? How do I fix me?”

The Commander froze. He felt a flood of bad memories he hadn’t thought about in years swallow him up like the sea. He knew EXACTLY how Jimmy felt - he had been there. And had to figure all this stuff out all on his own.

But Jimmy didn’t have to go at this alone like he did. He had an opportunity to tell Jimmy all the things he wished someone had told him when he started to transition.

“Look, the way to ‘fix’ you ain’t by messin’ with your robot brain and tryin’ to make you ok with being a boy if you’re not. You just gotta be you.”  
“B-but I don’t even know what I am exactly…”  
“Sure you do! You’re a crime fighting robot who plays the saxophone! You’re a loving, caring protector of human kind. And you’re my best friend.”

Jimmy finally smiled. And The Commander would rank this as one of his top 10 victories of all time.

“Now let’s just hammer out the deets! Pronouns?”  
“…She/Her? No wait…is there one for both?”  
“They/Them?”  
“Yes, that.”  
“Cool beans! Wanna go by anything other than Jimmy?”

The Commander could actually hear the literal gears turning in Jimmy's head.

“I was thinking ‘Jaime’…but I’m not sure. You can call me Jimmy for now.”  
“‘Jaime’…I like it! But I like Jimmy too.”

Jimmy’s smile grew, and the Commander wanted to see how big he could get it.

“And hey, if you wanna start presenting more like a lady, you totally should! I Bet you can alter the shorts into a skirt or somethin’…you ARE part sewing machine right?” The Commander playfully nudged Jimmy, wiggling his eyebrows under his mask.  
“I know you’re teasing me, but I actually am.” Jimmy pulled back the hatch on one of their fingers to reveal the head of a mechanical sewing needle. And the Commander laughed a little. “You never cease to amaze me, Robot.”

Jimmy flushed a little, and the sewing needle retracted back into their finger.

“The idea has crossed my mind…it would certainly be more comfortable to dress more…traditionally feminine… every once in a while…But I don’t know, Commander. Wouldn’t I look silly fighting crime and playing shows in a skirt? What if people laugh?”  
“Knock it off with that noise! First of all, you’d look SUPER pretty-!”  
Jimmy’s eyes grew wide and the Commander scrambled to cover himself, feeling slightly sweatier than usual all of a sudden.  
“I mean-Prettyyyyyyy…AWESOME in a skirt!”  
Ha! Nailed it!  
“Second of all, if anyone laughs you better believe I’m gonna go full on spider monkey on their butts! No one’s gonna laugh at you so long as you stick with me!”

“I don’t know Commander…I don’t exactly have the figure…”

The Commander couldn’t have disagreed more. Jimmy had a lot of junk in the trunk - a real badonkadonk! But he wasn’t about to tell JIMMY that…not right now, anyway.

“Hey, none of that Robot - if it’ll FEEL great then you’ll LOOK great. Heck I’m a fat, but I make it look GOOD!” The Commander jumped up on Jimmy’s desk and struck a pose, expecting Jimmy to laugh (or maybe even swoon!) But Jimmy was just…staring at him.

“What?”

“Nothing…it’s just…you’re so…masculine. I never would have guessed you were…like me if you hadn’t told me.”

The Commander flushed. “Gee, thanks Jimmy…” He coughed. “So what’s yer point?”

“I was just wondering if you were always so rugged and manly or if you…became that way. Perhaps you met a wizard once or found a bottle of noodles with a magic green fish but…do you still have their contact information?”

The Commander sighed, torn between not being super eager to kick up the dirt from his past but SUPER eager to do whatever it took to help Jimmy out. Finally he hopped off the desk, and wrapped an arm around Jimmy’s broad shoulder.

“First of all, you don’t HAVE to change your bod to be trans. What I said about all bods bein’ beach bods? That goes double for trans bods. But you totally can if you want to! With like…science and stuff. That’s what I did, anyway. I went to some doctors. MAYBE 1 or 2 mad scientists. Not exactly ‘street legal.’ But hey, it was WAY worth it because now…I’m way happier.”

The Commander had always been purposefully vague about his mysterious backstory, before he formed the Aquabats. When asked, he would usually change the subject or just make something up on the spot. Everyone had given up getting a straight answer out of him after a while, figured it wasn’t their business anyway. Jimmy felt so deeply honored that the Commander was sharing as much with them as he was right now. And maybe just a little guilty that they had pried in the past. It had clearly been a dark time in their friends life.

“We might need to call the Professor and like, a mechanic in your case but…” The Commander squeezed Jimmy’s shoulder. “I wanna work on gettin’ YOU happy. You’re my best friend - whether you’re a homie or a lady or somewhere in between. You’re an Aquabat! So whatever you need - I’m here for you.”

“…can I start with a hug? I would very much like a hug right no-OW!” Commander didn’t even let Jimmy finish before squeezing Jimmy’s body as tight and hard as he physically could.

Jimmy wasn’t sure if it was because the overwhelming emotions he was ill-equipped to process properly, or of force of the Commander’s hug, but they buried their face in the Commander’s chest and started to sob.

“Shhhh…shhh I gotchu, Jimmy, I gotchu.” The Commander rubbed Jimmy’s back while oily tears stained his rashguard. “If you start crying, then I’ll start cryin’, and I’m a REAL ugly crier…heh…sniff!” The Commander briefly broke the hug to wipe his face on his sleeve, smudging his mustache in the process.

They would have held on to each other forever, if they could play shows and fight monsters like this. It wasn’t like the Aquabats were shy about physical affection towards each other - it’s part of what made them the best band in the world! Also helped with pre-show jitters. But right now it felt especially right - The Commander was feeling especially protective of his best friend. And Jimmy was feeling particularly vulnerable…

There was something else between them too…something that neither of them were quite ready to talk about.

And so, reluctantly, Jimmy finally pulled away.

“Thank you Commander…for everything. I’m so sorry for how I acted I just…didn’t know you would take it so well. And help ME understand what was happening to me better.”  
“Don’t mention it, Robot - it’s scary for sure, especially when you don’t know what’s going on. But we’re the Aquabats! Running head first into scary stuff together is what we do best!”

The Commander wiped an oily tear from Jimmy’s cheek with his thumb.

“You’re braver than you know, Robot. We got this.”  
“We…” Jimmy repeated, face getting hot, causing the Commander to jerk his hand back like he was touching a hot stove.  
“Yowch! Um, yeah we…you, me…and Crash, and Ricky and Bones.”

Jimmy’s face fell.

“…d-do you think the others will take it well-?”

It was at that precise syllable that the rest of the Aquabats, who had been listening the entire time through the door, came charging in. Crash, getting just a LITTLE bit emotional, barely fitting through the doorway.

“JIMMY JIMMY JIMMY DON’T CRY DON’T CRY WE LOVE YOU!” Crash bellowed as he scooped both Jimmy and the Commander in a big bear hug.  
“Yeah, Jimmy! I always thought it’d be cool to have a girl in the band - and I promise to be a gentleman around you!” Ricky added, squeezing himself in to the hug.

“And did you SERIOUSLY think we weren’t gonna take it well? You’re stuck with us whether you like it or not Robot!” Bones, never one to get all mushy, nudged Jimmy’s ribs playfully with a smirk and a wink…before quick wiping his eyes before anyone could see, and wedging himself into the group hug.

Jimmy couldn’t help it - they burst into oily, robot tears again. Shaking and sputtering like an old jalopy. Which only made their friends, their chosen family, to hug them tighter. To go from being so alone, so scared of their own mind and body to being so loved and so accepted…it was entirely too much to process.

And then the Commander started singing softly in their ear, while rubbing small circles into their back.

“Friends help each other, anyway they can…”  
“When you’re up at back, they’ll be your biggest fan…” Crash joined in.  
“If you’re in a pit…” Eaglebones sang next, voice a little shaky. “They’ll pull you out of it…” Ricky finished the phrase for Bones, before wiping his nose on his sleeve.

And the no-singing in the lab rule was officially broken, as they all sang “Lobster Bucket” together.

END

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea how this idea/fic will be received, but I couldn't shake the idea once it popped into my head. Could be considered an AU. 
> 
> I feel like so much of Jimmy the Robot's narrative can translate to a queer/trans narrative. Mysterious Egg pretty much makes it canon that Jimmy identifies as a "mother" rather than a "father" to Jimmy Jr. And while I know in my heart that was played for laughs on a silly kids show, I wanted to explore that idea. 
> 
> Commander being a trans man was at first just an explanation for the mustache, but the more I thought about it the more I fell in love with the idea. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the fic!


End file.
